Thursday, December 22, 2016

In Ears - November & December 2016

Bringing you a monthly reviews including Pain Of Salvation, Esben And The Witch, The Pineapple Thief, Agnes Obel, Soundgarden, Type O Negative, Korn, Dark Tranquillity, Purson, Metallica, Giraffe Tongue Orchestra, Maudlin Of The Well, Celestial Season, Fight The Fight, Spaceking, Shirley Bassey, Queen, Miles Davis, Anathema.

Wish you all nice holidays! 






Pain Of Salvation - In The Passing Light Of Day
Have you ever dreamed about having a time machine? It's possible in the music world. With receiving latest Pain Of Salvation album, I can already see in my Windows Media Player a 2017 item. Jokes aside. PoS mastermind went through some serious health problems from streptococcal infection and we are happy to see Daniel back from the dead with an amazing album.



Power of their music can be also seen from having covers, eventhough new album is not out yet. Great job In The Loop!




Esben And The Witch - Older Terrors
I was having really weird phase for the past few months, where I was really disappointed by so many of my favorite artists. I am so glad, there are still some left, who are fascinating me more and more with every album. Plus, in the case of Esben And The Witch, I share a similar vision. It is really easy to jump into the jungle of mainstream, but much more valuable are listeners who truly understand you. They might be in a smaller number, than Kings Of Leon have, but you feel more connected to them. Plus, more than ever I believe they do what they really want. Otherwise, why the hell they would make eleven or thirteen minutes songs and join atmospheric black, avantgarde metal bands under Season Of Mist label. Truly exceptional band and absolutely overflowing haunting atmosphere.





The Pineapple Thief - Your Wilderness
Previous album Magnolia (2014) is one of my most favorite albums for driving a car, but this piece is becoming one of my most favorite companion for tasty lounge prog moments.



Agnes Obel - Aventine
I failed while predicting Lana Del Rey's performance at Colours of Ostrava 2016, but I am quite sure we will see there this amazing lady very soon.



No "Click"

Soundgarden - Superunknown
Big respect, but never a fan, compared let say to Alice in Chains.

Type O Negative - October Rust
Rather pass it to my girlfriend, Woods Of Ypres fan...

Korn : The Serenity Of Suffering
Autopilot. However, let see live. I truly miss days of Korn III: Remember Who You Are (2010)

Dark Tranquillity - Atoma
Album for fans, with some great riffs. Nothing more. God, Character (2005) was such a great album! Putting it right away into my sony walkman. It's such a great running music

Purson - Desire's Magic Theatre
Solid, but I apparently didn't lick the "paper" enough...

Metallica - Hardwired...to Self-Destruct
I stopped caring for Metallica with ...And Justice for All (1988)

Giraffe Tongue Orchestra - Broken Lines
Might be a all-star project, but it's soooo dry.

Tamás Kátai's (Thy Catafalque) tips:
Maudlin Of The Well - Bath & Celestial Season - Solar Lovers: These are well respected albums, not only by Metal Storm users and it gives you a clearer idea of Tamás' taste, but they are not for me...

More no "clicks": Fight The Fight - Fight The Fight, Spaceking - The Piper at the Gates of Stone


Respect for the elders


Shirley Bassey - Tip coming from Cammie Gilbert of Oceans of Slumber. Great present for my grandma.



Queen - Innuendo
This piece was all over the BBC documentary on the Death Of Yugoslavia, which I watched at least dozen times these days.



Miles Davis - Miles Smiles is a proper challenge.




However there is nothing more beautiful than Anathema - 32:40




Friday, December 16, 2016

Rozhovor Asking Alexandria a pohled do zákulisí koncertu v Lucerna Music Bar

Vážení fanoušci Asking Alexandria,
Jako poděkování za vaší účast v soutěži o setkání s Asking Alexandria, přinášíme rozhovor s kapelou, pořízený před vyprodaným vystoupením v Lucerna Music baru 23. 8. 2016 a také několik dojmů ze zákulisí. V tištěné formě jej naleznete v prosincovém čísle magazínu Muzikus.




V tuto chvíli se nám v magazínu Muzikus podařilo zpracovat většinu nejzajímavějších témat, které od vás přišly, v rámci seriálu Hudební Psychologie.

  •          Muzikus 10/2016 - Hudba jakožto mediální sdělení – Jak je jednoduché do hudby ukrýt podtext a „zmanipulovat“ tak fanoušky? 
  •          Muzikus 11/2016 - Nakolik může správně zvolená reprodukovaná hudba ovlivnit chuť, či nechuť k nakupování v obchodě?
  •          Muzikus 12/2016 - Vliv poslechu hudby při spánku / během těhotenství
  •          Muzikus 1/2017 - Jukebox v naší hlavě – Jak vysvětlit, že nám v hlavě zní melodie, kterou už nemůžeme ani slyšet a nejde se jí zbavit?




Rozhovor najdete na tomto odkaze, a jak je uvedeno v rozhovoru, berte jej jako vzpomínku na koncert protože těsně před koncertem kapela ještě „nevěděla“ o personální změně, ke které brzy došlo. Přeji vám všem krásné svátky, za celou redakci magazínu Muzikus a její spolupracovníky.

Wednesday, December 14, 2016

Thursday, December 1, 2016

Tosin Abasi Interview - Front Cover Story


I’m not exaggerating, when I say, we were looking for a proper front cover picture of Tosin Abasi since the January of 2015, when I spoke to him in Prague before Animals As Leaders show. All regular approaches have failed. Therefore, we had to find a unique solution at Brutal Assault festival this summer. Final result: Tosin is on a front cover of December issue of Czech music magazine Muzikus.




Usually, it’s not a problem to get great pictures from a label of a PR agency, where both entities have a motivation to promote their client. Not mentioning their wish to get someone on the front cover. However, neither agency Hold Tight! PRnor Sumerian Records had a suitable vertical picture. No chance even with their previous label Prosthetic Records. We used horizontal pictures they provided us in the article, but they simple didn't fit on the cover. However, we are not talking here about some young unknown kid! There are tens of amazing images of Tosin all over the internet. We can see him wearing design clothes, holding unique guitars and having cool backgrounds. So, we thought it would be just a matter of few emails, as most of these pics are used by guitar manufacturer Ibanez for promotion. Wrong! Rights to these pieces are held by DiMarzio brand, specialist on pick-up and guitar accessories. I wish, we could have talked more and make them an offer, they cannot refuse, but any sort of negotiation was rejected in a total Godfather moment! I had to start improvising, if I wanted this thing released.



I even made a request for amateur photographers demanding cool live pictures, but nothing significant happened. Therefore, I had the last option: Catch Tosin personally again. The best option came up this summer at Brutal Assault festival where Animals As Leaders were one of the most anticipated acts. Here I have to thank the promoters, as they did the first wave of negotiation with his managers. I just had to catch him before signing session. However, as it usually happens, almost nothing went according to a plan.  



First of all, my colleague was betrayed by his camera, so I didn’t have a photographer. Luckily, on the way to the festival grounds I met a talented Italian photographer Stefania Rossi. We were hanging out together all of us, with my and her crew, but as it usually happens on a festival, technology cannot be trusted. I couldn’t reach her in a crucial time on the phone. Therefore, I was thinking to also check in the press center, if somebody else would be interested. Options were quite narrowed, as there was only one person sitting. I introduced myself in English, but we soon realized we are both Czech. Martin Semenyšín is also very skilled photographer working both privately for his platform xMartinezzPhotographyx and also cooperating with Czech magazines Full Moon and Headliner.



We were ready and even Stefania made it on time. However, manager asked us to postpone photo session after signing session, which was taking place inside the Josefov fortress. We didn’t have any issues with that, as a total hell broke out outside. Every day around 7pm, there were fireworks. Well, not usual ones, as it was still sunny afternoon. Those were ear blowing fireworks from the “fire” organs above Oriental Stage. It might have been a unique piece of art but Animals As Leaders manager was really freaking out. Plenty of festival guests were worried about their ears, but imagine any damage to the ears of professional musicians. Luckily, just before the signing session ended, it was peaceful outside again. We went out quick to check the spot for photo session. It was really simple work, as the fortress background was really unique. I just kicked away few pieces of trash (festival grounds are otherwise super clean), ripped some pieces of weed from the wall and kindly asked a single person to move. It was not crowded at all, as Oriental Stage had actually a single act that day – Japanese post rock band Mono. 



When Tosin came out, he knew exactly what to do and was ok, with just few friendly instructions. He was a true posing professional, while two photographers were shooting at the same time. We tried number of backgrounds but didn't plan to make it too long, as nobody felt ultra comfortable. Towards the end Tosin leaned towards me and said with a short laugh: "I feel a bit awkward, man." I looked around and number of viewers around was rising and I said: "Deal man, we are done. Thanx a lot! At this point, I would like to thank everybody who made this happen, including bunch of fans, standing peacefully around and enjoying the moment with us. Afterwards we just did a short phoner to promote the last Animals As Leaders album The Madness of Many. I will release English version of the interview soon...